1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting unit for a comminuting machine, particularly for meat and the like. The cutting unit includes a perforated disk and a drivable cutting knife which interacts with the perforated disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cutting units of the above-described type and the corresponding comminuting machines have been in use for a long time in the food industry, particularly in the meat-processing industry. The comminuting machines include one or more cutting units of the above-described type which are arranged one behind the other in travel direction of the material to be cut. The material, which in the case of the meat-processing industry may be meat, rinds, tendons and other cuttable portions of animals, is usually conveyed by means of a feeding screw toward the cutting unit. The cutting knife is mounted on the same shaft as the feeding screw or the like, so that both can be driven together with the same rate of rotation. When several cutting units are provided one behind the other, the first cutting unit serves for coarse cutting, while the subsequent cutting units further comminute the material, so that the material at the end leaves the machine at the outlet in a finely comminuted state. The degree of fineness depends on the cross-sectional site of the holes in the perforated disk.
Due to the particular shape of the cutting knives which are usually used, and also since the cutting knives may not contact the housing surrounding them or an annular housing portion in which the cutting knives are mounted, a certain gap exists in radial direction between the cutting knife bodies and the machine housing or the like. The material to be cut may collect in this gap and, thus, the cutting result may be negatively influenced.